Target Bag

Reusable bags are good for the Earth, but they can be good for your pocketbook too. Whole Foods and Target are among a growing number of retail stores to offer discounts for bringing your own bags.

Shop at either store, and you’ll receive 5-cents off of your purchase for each bag that you bring. Not too shabby.

Do you know of other stores that offer reusable bag discounts? Please share the details.

WRAP-N-MAT

Plastic grocery bags are bad – it’s been drilled into our heads a hundred times over. And yet, very little has been said about plastic sandwich bags. Why is that? They’re just as bad for the environment, and we actually PAY to bring them home!

Determined to cut back on the amount of plastic used in my house, I set out to find a earth-friendly alternative to plastic sandwich bags, and I’m happy to report that I found a great one: the WRAP-N-MAT.

Design-wise it’s pretty simple stuff: just a piece of fabric and a liner that folds around your food and seals with a piece of Velcro, but in action it’s the stuff of genius. When you open the WRAP-N-MAT it becomes a placemat (bye-bye cafeteria germs), and clean up couldn’t be easier. Just wipe off the lining, and store it away until next time.

Want to give WRAP-N-MATS a try? You can buy them direct from the company ($7.50 each and up), or do what I did, and take advantage of the 4-for-3 promotion
over at Amazon.

Photo © Erin Huffsteter